


Kagome's Tattoo

by Inunanna



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Completed, F/M, Fluff, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7621351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inunanna/pseuds/Inunanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagome wants to get a tattoo and the artist with the only art she liked is a silver haired hanyou with a bad attitude. Short Fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part. 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. And in this case I do not share Inuyasha’s beliefs on tattoos that are not good.**

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

 

**Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Part. 1**

 

 

A black haired young woman passed in front of the shop for the umpteenth time. Her hands were sweating and she dried them on her pants, again. Took a long, deep breath, placed her hand on the handle, and pushed.

The place had pictures and drawings covering most of the walls, it had three different booths, a couple of chairs by the entrance and a display case was close to the door, with a young man sitting behind it using it as a desk.

The man was drawing something over the display case, with his hand moving slowly and carefully over the paper. He was frowning, his eyes not moving from the white surface at the same time the tip of his tongue played with the sharp edge of a fang.

Kagome stared at the man, he had long silver hair that was partially covered by a deep red bandana just behind his bangs, and the rest was loosely braided down his back. His bangs were covering his eyes from her, but she knew they were bright gold.

Her dark eyes scanned the place again wondering what she was supposed to do now... was she supposed to walk to him? And interrupt his work? Maybe, walking around the place looking at his sketches and designs until he noticed her presence? Or wait patiently using one of the chairs by the door? Kagome was leaning towards waiting on the chair when something on the wall called for her attention.

It was the sketch she had seen before, the one that gave her the idea of getting a tattoo. She walked to the wall slowly, with her eyes glued to the drawing. It was beautiful, it was an image of a full moon and inside of it was the silhouette of a howling dog, and inside the dog was a black haired man with his eyes closed. The drawing was small, maybe the moon was four inches in diameter, maybe even less. But for Kagome the size didn’t make it less hauntingly beautiful. The silver and blue tones of the moon, the delicate form of the dog. She wondered how could a silhouette look like mourning, and how an artist could draw a sleeping face in that reduced space that reflected so much loneliness, helplessness.  Her hand moved closer to the wall, she needed to touch his face, she wanted to erase the tears that weren’t even there.

A deep voice made her jump and her chocolate eyes went immediately to the man behind the counter. She wasn’t sure what he had said, so instead of answering whatever it was he wanted she stared and blinked stupidly at him.

Inuyasha looked up at the woman in his shop with a bored face. Since that stupid article was published people with no business inside a tattoo studio had been bothering them. Some of those people came and only asked for pictures of him or asked for his number. That, or people that pissed him off even more showed up.

He stared at the young woman, she was wearing something normal, nothing too flashy. A blue skirt, a white blouse, high and pretty shoes and a small purse. At least this person was looking at his art and not ogling him like the last one…

“Are you here for a tattoo?” Was the politest thing he could think of saying.

He expected her to nod if she wanted him for work, or maybe she would give him a flirty smile expressing she wanted him for something else. But he did not expect her to turn and stared at him with giant deer eyes and only blink.

“Huh?”

Inuyasha scowled. “I said: Are you here for a tattoo?”

Kagome nodded energetically and walked closer to him. “Yes, I want to get one?”

Inuyasha smirked as he stared at her with narrowed eyes. “You’re asking me, wench?”

“Yes! No!...”

Kagome took a deep breath before continuing. If she thought talking with this man was going to be difficult before, she had no idea how intense his eyes were. Those amber eyes made her nervous enough to talk coherently. Now she needed to relax and talk like she would do if Sango was with her, and not this very handsome and rude artist.

The man was still staring at her expectantly.

“Um… Yes I do want a tattoo…” Kagome said with her most confident voice.

Inuyasha stood straight and crossed his arms before nodding. “What do you want inked?”

She had been thinking about something that she liked enough to get on her skin.

“I want something pretty and feminine”

His only reaction was a nod and a soft grunt.

“I want something that goes with me…”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. This kind of clients had been coming to his studio too often. People who wanted a tattoo because now tattoos were ‘In’ and ‘cool’ but those people didn’t know what a tattoo really meant most of the time.

“Can you give me something more specific?”

Inuyasha kept saying in his head “Please! Please! Not a feather, a peace sign or an infinity symbol!”

She looked at her hands before speaking quietly “I want a pearl necklace. Only one pink, shiny pearl with a threaded necklace…”

Inuyasha sighed relieved. Looks like she didn’t just want the pretty tattoo she saw on Pinterest. If the design was something that she wanted for herself, he was confident about delivering something good enough.

“… and I want the thread to be shaped like an infinity symbol”

Inuyasha was getting excited for nothing. It was another variant of the fucking infinite symbol. And he was not going to do that.

She was still talking. “Maybe on my ankle or high on my back, I think it would—“

He raised a hand and Kagome stopped talking. “I won’t do the tattoo…”

She did that thing with the huge eyes and the blinking. “Why not?”

The silver haired man snorted a dry laugh. “Because I don’t do stupid tattoos. I make art.” She was still doing that thing. “I make art, for people who knows what it means to get a tattoo.”

She finally changed her expression. Now she was frowning. He kept going, using what Kagome thought was a condescending voice.

“A tattoo is not a pair of cute shoes. It is not something you can just come and get as you please. A tattoo is something you cannot change with the seasons…It. Is. Permanent. Tattoos become part of you and a part of who you are. That is why they need meaning, and people that plan to get one need to know what it means to get a tattoo, and I refuse to make copies of tattoos from Pinterest or shit like that. If you want something pretty that other people have. Go to the mall and buy some fucking shoes! Don’t waste anybody else’s time with a shitty thing like that.”

During his speech he had moved closer to the door and now he was holding it open.

“There is a mall two blocks down…” He shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. “Go and buy something pretty”

Kagome was speechless. She had never felt this humiliated before. This asshole of an artist was telling her that she didn’t know what she wanted? She had no words to describe how disappointed she was right now.

Without another word she walked out of the shop. It had not turned out how she had expected. Her wish of getting a tattoo from the only artist that had ever amazed her was now impossible.

Inuyasha saw her walk away from his studio with misty eyes and closed the door as soon as she was out. He made an uncomfortable face. Maybe he treated her like a jerk. Maybe he went too far.

He let out another sigh. He knew he was an asshole. He half expected her to fight back and call him names, appropriate names for his behavior, but she had remained silent. Saying without words she didn’t really want a tattoo.

Or maybe he was just waiting for someone who could stand his temper and mouth.

Inuyasha walked to the door and turned off the ‘open’ sign.

None of those things mattered. He had thrown out the best client prospect from the lousy line of people looking for him for his looks and not for what he did best, and he was sure she would not come back. Who in their right mind would?

 

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being yelled at the tattooist shop, Kagome goes back to give him a piece of her mind.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

**Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Part. 3**

 

Kagome walked as fast as she could to her house, away from him. Her vision was blurry from the unshed tears. She refused to cry for that idiot’s words. She couldn’t believe she had admired him, even if it was for a short time.

She huffed in a very unlady like way, “Who does he think he is!?”.  People on the street gave her strange looks as she passed by.

Kagome flicked her hair angrily.

He had a good reputation and was a good enough artist to be able to refuse clients that didn't meet his standards. But he did not have the right to be rude about it.

She stopped walking suddenly with an idea in her mind.

That man had said whatever that was on his mind and she didn’t have the opportunity to speak. He had said all that after she had patiently waited for him to decide to acknowledge her presence. But she will make him listen!

Kagome turned and began walking back, crashing with a person behind her in the process.

“Oh! I’m sorry...” She said without looking at the person, having a pleasant surprise when she saw it was her friend “Sango!”

“Kagome!” The girl inspected her looking for something “Are you done? So fast? Where is it?”

Making an uncomfortable face Kagome admitted “I didn’t get one...”

“Why?” Sango stroked her back with a sympathetic look on her face. “Got cold feet?”

“What? No!” Kagome signaled behind her “The stupid man threw me out of his shop!”

“He did what? Why?”

Usually Sango was more vocal with her anger than Kagome, and according to her friend it was because Kagome treated everyone with the same patience and understanding as she did with her students. Sometimes she wondered how her everyday would be if she didn’t, maybe she would have less moments like the one she just had.

The black haired girl looked down, hiding her chocolate eyes with her bangs. “He didn’t approve of my tattoo idea and told me there is no way he will do it, and that I should go and buy some shoes instead...”

Sango’s face went from understanding, to indignant, and finally it set on angry. She brushed her hair back with her hands as she stared at Kagome with her other hand on her waist as she tried to breath out some of her anger.

“We are going there Right Now! And we, No! YOU will tell him everything that he deserves! That self righteous ass!”

Kagome looked up with a hopeful face. Sango was right! They should be letting him know what they thought about him with the same freedom that he spoke to her.

But as she looked at the fired up expression of her friend Kagome realized she didn’t want Sango there. She loved her friend but if she was going to come back she would go alone and stand her ground.  

It wasn't because deep down she wanted to improve his impression of her... of course it wasn't. It was just that It was time to fight her own battles. It was the only reason.

Sango was waiting for her to point the direction, and instead of signaling the path she came from, Kagome pointed to her favorite comfort food restaurant. Korean barbecue, because grilled meat and beer sounded like heaven right now.

It took a several minutes for Sango to notice where they were really going, after all it was the place Kagome always proposed for dinner.

They were almost at the restaurant when Kagome told her about her ideas, and after a short discussion that ended with the promise of not backing down and telling Sango how it went as soon as she was done with it.

The night ended with a tipsy Kagome telling her friend how it will all play out and how much she will enjoy seeing his repentant face after her speech is finished.

...

Two white ears perked up at the sound of certain ‘clack clack’ on the street. He knew that sound. It was HER. The woman that wanted ther pearl/infinity tattoo.

He had picked up on the special sound and rhythm of her walk the day after she came to his studio, when she was walking home from work, or at least he thought. It was around 5pm that day and he was rearranging the chairs when he saw the woman pass in front of his shop.

Inuyasha was sure she had not seen him as she walked by.

At the sight of her, Inuyasha's heart did a little jump in his chest thinking that maybe she was coming back to him- talk to him.

But just before she reached his studio she sped up and passed it as fast as she could, crushing the hanyou's hope. She had not even turned her head to the building.

The next day things had happened without changes, around the same hour, not that he was paying that much attention to it. She would pass in front of the shop without a single look at him or his shop. This time Inuyasha wondered something new. If everyday she _returned_ from work or wherever she went everyday, it means that she passed in front of the shop one time, before he opened, when she walked from home.

Luckily the next day he had an appointment at 10am. Maybe he should come early to clean the place around 6am, and he would not feel pressure to finish on time and also Miroku wouldn't be making jokes about the ‘smell of his den’.

So the third day he woke up before sunrise. NOT because he had any kind of interest or was developing an obsession for the woman. It was because he had important things to do today. He had to make sure his shop was clean and inviting for the customers, plural, not just one!

And he had to revisit Miroku’s sketch, to find any kind of mistake or detail that was not good enough. Again, nothing to do with a black haired woman.

He kept repeating the same as he dusted the chairs by the door. It had nothing to do with the way her face had changed from happy expectation as she spoke to him, to end up holding her tears as she stormed out. It also had nothing to do with guilt. He was not feeling guilty.

Inuyasha was placing the last chair back when the sound he had been waiting for reached his ears, he looked at the clock trying to remember the time for later reference. The rhythmic sound of her steps grew closer, he was getting ready to watch her sprint just before reaching his place. But this time it was different.

He was in front of the obscured glass, partially hidden by it as she approached slowly. He had the opportunity to watch her walk leisurely. She looked downright adorable with her hair in a high ponytail and a semi formal skirt suit. For a moment his mind wandered on the possible careers she could have. His musings came to an end when she appeared in front of the glass and she stopped walking.

The hanyou saw her head and chocolate eyes go directly to his “open” sign, and after seeing it turned off, a soft sigh left her lips. Instead of just continuing to walk at a comfortable pace, she slowed down and looked at the sketches he had on display. Inuyasha wished there was no glass in between them, to be able to smell her scent, the inviting and calming scent of her.

As the woman studied the designs Inuyasha couldn’t avoid drinking in her image as he would do with his work, memorizing the shape of her face, the way her eyes expressed the infatuation she had with one image in particular, the way her lips curved faintly as she traced the sketch with her fingers, the high nose, and her eyebrows that traveled lower as something broke her enchantment.

Only when her lips formed an ‘o’ and her eyes became wide as they stared at him was Inuyasha aware of the screeching noise the chair was doing against the floor as he pushed it closer to the glass. She blushed from the neck to her ears, and before he had time to react she sprinted away from him.

Inuyasha felt like an idiot. A true idiot. It was the second time he had any contact with her and was also the second time he had made her run from him.

The hanyou walked to the sketch she had been admiring before escaping. It was his current favorite, the tattoo of the moon, the howling dog and the sleeping man. The design had come to him during a new moon, it had remained as a sketch, he had never offered the tattoo to someone and everyone automatically thought he had made the sketch for someone in particular. It was a simple piece, but it represented something important for him.

Inuyasha felt proud thinking she seemed to like that one specially.

Before he had time to dwell on the subject Miroku arrived and he went into business mode. According to most of the people that knew him, Inuyasha had a one way brain. Only one thing can occupy his attention, so when his friend arrived and asked about his tattoo, everything else left his mind.

Hours later, and after a small lunch to let Miroku rest for a bit and relieve his bladder after finishing today’s session, Inuyasha was placing his tools back and cleaning the station when the door opened. He didn’t pay attention to it and continued with the cleaning, placing the tints back to their drawers.

At the same time the scent he had wanted to smell in the morning reached his nose, also did an angry voice reach his ears.

“Do I have to wait for half an hour to become visible to you again?” She shouted.

Inuyasha turned to her with a baffled expression, and his ears plastered on his scalp. He saw her take in air through her nose, with a blushed face and her fiery brown eyes.

“Don’t worry it won't take that long! I won't take your precious time with one of my stupid tattoo ideas that...” she opened her trembling hands and signaled the sketches that were on the wall.

“...obviously don't measure with your art.”

Inuyasha was still blinking at her for a moment before reacting.

“Woah, wait... what?”  He asked with a still confused face.

Kagome was trying to appear more confident than she really felt.  She had arrived with the sole purpose of telling him that she didn’t need him, that she will get the tattoo she wanted because she deserves it! And his opinion had little to no importance to her. But the moment  he turned around and his golden eyes focused on her her resolved started to weaken, at least this time she had not lost her voice.

“Yeah! I won’t waste your time asking you to do something that is beneath you...”

Inuyasha raised his hands in the universal ‘wait a moment’ gesture and interrupted her speech.

“Hey! I never said that!”

“Yes you did!”

Kagome was slowly forgetting about being nervous as the silver haired man's attitude changed from shocked to belligerent.

“I never talked about my art. I said your idea was stupid!”

She groaned exasperated “And how is that different?”

Inuyasha gave her a smug smile “It is different because it means it's not only beneath ME...” he mirrored her motion opening his arms and signaling his sketches “It is too stupid to be done by anybody.

She took a sharp breath and took a few steps until her pointing finger made contact with his chest marking each of her words.

“And why is it so stupid? Because your great intellect doesn’t understand its meaning?”

Inuyasha took her hand in his own to stop the exasperating tapping.

“What kind of meaning can an infinity symbol have?” his voice went higher and batted his lashes “I am as original as a 100 yen coin? Keh! As deep as puddle!”

Her voice was louder this time and as soon as she starting to talk his ears went low.

“How dare you?!”  

His only response was a cocked brow.

“For me it has meaning!”

The man raised his other eyebrow in an expression that yelled ‘enlighten me’ in a sarcastic way.

If Inuyasha had paid attention to other things beside her face, he would had noticed the pencil behind his ear, the carrier bag with a mathematical symbols print, the calculator that was barely held inside a side pocket, the many paper sheets inside the partially closed bag and the faint scent of children on her. Maybe if he had paid attention to those details he could have saved himself a lecture.

“For starters it's a _mathematical_ symbol. Not a trending fashion design.”

Her other hand went up and made contact with his chest. And once again his hand held it to avoid the annoying stabbing finger.

“It was first used in the 17th century and was used to represent numbers that were too big to measure.

Inuyasha's brow furrowed as he wondered if the wench was going to explain the academic use of the symbol.

“In modern times it is used to represent numbers that grow steadily and may never stop growing, a never ending number.”

“Keh...” he said in a way she felt was like an inarticulated ‘so what?’

“I like the symbol to represent what I feel for my father!” Her voice started to go softer with each word “A never ending and always growing love that stays with me...”

Any lingering intention of fighting this woman ended at the moment her big brown eyes lost her bright determination and became watery and distant.

“...shit” He said almost too soft for her to understand.

Kagome opened her lips to speak when he made a pained expression.

“I’m... I’m...”

“An asshole?” She supplied with a half smile.

Inuyasha let out a dry laugh “Yeah. Yeah, that too. But I’m also sorry... I didn't know how you.. ”

Her baffled expression stopped him mid sentence.

“OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T!” Kagome shouted, way too close to his ears for his liking.

With his head thrown back he shouted back “What’s your problem wench?”

“You! You are my problem!” She was trying to poke his chest again, an impossible task now that he had both of her hands in his.

“You say sorry and make the excuse of...” Kagome made her voice lower and used an strange accent to mimic him “ _I didn’t know._ But of course you didn’t because you never gave me the time!”

She straightened her back and gave him a dignified look, a remarkable achievement with her hand held and being easily a foot shorter than him.

“You! You listened to a few words and made a story in your head and in your dumb self righteousness decided why I wanted it and why I didn’t deserve it... without listening.”

He was ready to retort and argue why she was wrong, he even opened his lips trying to say something but he found himself unable to lie under her fixed stare.

After a few more tries that left him looking like a fish out of the water he settled with a “Keh!” as he evaded said stare.

“That is how my friend says ‘You are right’ and ‘I’m sorry’ in one syllable”  The deep and honeyed voice came from the farthest corner of the shop.

Both of their heads turned to the man, who was looking at them with his hands in his front pockets of his jeans. The man looked friendly but there was something in his deep blue eyes that was unnerving. He looked like a typical rogue-ish office worker with his royal blue short sleeved button shirt, of course, if you ignored the two tattooed sleeves he sported. The black haired man glided closer as he spoke.  “Sorry you had to suffer the sour disposition of my inu hanyou friend, Miss...”

Kagome’s eyes darted to the white haired man’s head. She knew he had uncommon silver hair, that today was up in a high ponytail, with his bandana on, but now that she was paying attention he was hiding something under that bandana, something that moved... were those doggy ears?

The other man cleared his throat, making her blush as she realized she was staring at him.

“.. .Kagome” She completed giving a small smile.

Inuyasha repeated the name in his head, he liked the sound, it was melodic and cute. It fit her quite well.

“Miss Kagome” the black haired man repeated with a flirty smile of his own. That caused two things, the woman’s smile vanished at the same time Inuyasha’s expression turned sour and gave a short warning growl.

Miroku smiled wider at his friend as he spoke to her. “Nice to meet you Miss Kagome, I’m Miroku, one of the few people brave enough to befriend this grouchy inu-hanyou beside you”.

“Cut it out Miroku...” Said Inu-hanyou delivered along with a short growl.

The other man ignored the warning and turned to Kagome with a sideloop smile in his lips “So... are you going to start talking about designs here or are we going to get dinner as we go into it?” 

 

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter would be the last but l couldn't wrap it here. I think there is at least 1 or 2 chapters.  
> Thank you for reading.  
> Every kudos and review is appreciated, thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think of this.


	3. Part. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome and Inuyasha have a reunion in Miroku's house as they the conversation bring back memories of their time together, their first kiss, and some other milestones in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up about a time skip :D

**Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Part. 3**

 

The cell phone started to make a sound for the third time that morning. The first had been when it was time for Inuyasha to start getting ready. It was too early for Kagome to get up, and as they’ve been doing lately, he had turned off the first alarms before turning to her side of the bed, throwing an arm and leg over her body in some kind of back hug, nuzzling her cheek and burying his face in the crook of her neck before groaning and getting up from their bed, and returning a few moments later to place a bundle in her already waiting hands. Kagome fell asleep before he got to the shower, but she could faintly recall his goodbye kiss before leaving.

The second had been ten minutes ago, when her time to get ready had arrived, but she was not ready to leave the soothing warmth of her bed, and neither was the bundle snuggling on her chest. She decided that getting up was not as important as to continue sleeping, so she reached for the phone and turned the alarm off.

But now it was not an alarm, it was a call, and by the ringtone she knew without looking at the screen, it was Inuyasha.

“You still in bed, huh?” He said as a hello at the same time she put the phone on her ear.

“I’m not!” she argued, the groggy sound in her voice betraying her.

“Yeah, right. Pair of sleepy heads” he said in a fake dignified voice.

“We are in the process of getting up!”

“Since when is standing up and walking away from the bed is a process?”

Kagome groaned at the same time something started fidgeting against her chest. “Since I need to coordinate two beings, or more.”

Inuyasha laughed on the other side of the line. “Alright... Just try not to be late. Don't want to hear Miroku nag about why it is taking too long.”

“Aight, we’ll be there on time.” Her smile carrying through the phone. He could hear some rustling and then her soft voice reached him again. “And you? Are you ready?” More rustling and gurgling sounds.

“We are almost ready, aren’t we?” she said and Inuyasha was not sure about who she was talking to.

“Ok, I’ll see you both here, take care.” He finished when it became clear her attention was not going to come back to him any time soon.

Kagome made a few agreeing noises before saying “Say bye to daddy!  Yes like that... Bye bye. She is waving you goodbye.”

Inuyasha said goodbye again, knowing his daughter would hear him even if he was not on speaker, and without fail there were the sweet butchered words of a goodbye. And Kagome repeating them correctly.

The call ended and Kagome sat slowly, on the edge of the bed and waited for the girl to crawl on her lap.

“Alright! Time to go see daddy!”

The baby made the sound Kagome had gotten used to associating with dad. It was a mix of “addy” and “datta”, and she caressed her short black curls, thinking how fast her whole life had changed, and in so little time.

Less than two and a half years ago she didn’t even know the man she was thinking of spending the rest of her life with. He had become part of her life in a fateful series of events that happened too fast for most people.

But maybe that was why it felt so right, because neither of them were ‘most people’. Kagome giggled at the thought as she finished rinsing her daughter and wrapping her in her soft fluffy blanket as the baby flapped her arms to grab her mother’s clothes and hair.

“What would your dad think about me saying he is not normal?  Huh?”

The baby cooed and Kagome let her nuzzle her head as she kept making baby talk.

Too many things had happened since she met Inuyasha in his shop. The young mother stopped a moment to think about exactly how long it had been. If their daughter was now ten months old, and it was on their six-month anniversary when they discovered they were pregnant of three months... and it took them a month to start dating officially so that meant that they had met... 25 months ago? She gasped, two years and one month! It was crazy fast!

Kagome shook her head as she pushed the small red shirt on her daughter’s head, minding the ears flicking around. The girl shook her head imitating her mother and Kagome played a short imitation game rejoicing in how carefree and happy her daughter was.

She wondered what she would have said if someone had told her the story of her and Inuyasha, and how they changed from angry fighting every time they got together, to being unable to keep their hands off each other, to thinking it was impossible to imagine a life without one another.

Bright chocolate eyes stared at her mother expectantly, blinking and playing with her left ear. For a ten months old, she was really smart and knew what was going to happen next. It was mommy’s time to shower.   
  
Since the baby was born—actually since Inuyasha moved in, but for different reasons—she was grateful for the clear shower doors. Because those giant brown eyes wanted to follow her into the shower, and if something blocked her view, all hell would break loose. The time she stayed in the shower was always short unless Inuyasha was home to play with their daughter, or when she was asleep and they could take a bath together, which now didn't happen often. 

After getting both clean and dressed, it was time to eat something. Kagome had discovered the girl really enjoyed eating her boiled vegetables, and also knew that just like her father, the moment food was in front of her, the rest of the world was lost for her. And Kagome had learnt fast how to use those precious moments.

By the time they were both well fed and her baby girl clean again, it was almost time to meet Inuyasha in his shop.  Now that he had two jobs it was a little difficult to meet their friends, so now that they were free Miroku and his soon-to-be wife had invited them over.

And Inuyasha had agreed, surprising even to her. Since he took that second job, he had become even less social than ever before. Claiming that dealing in a civilized manner with what he called “entitled fucks” —meaning his college students—was taking what he also referred as “social energy”. 

In this two years, all thanks to Miroku and his ‘Inuyasha decoding techniques’, Kagome had developed a special kind of attention to what he said. For her those ‘entitled fucks’ meant youngsters he couldn’t connect with yet, and well, ‘lack of social energy’ meant he'd rather spend his free time with his family, relaxing at home, than be in the presence of people he didn’t really like, and that was fine with her most of the time.

Taking the baby bag and putting it on her shoulder, Kagome stopped for a moment and looked around. She had lived in that same apartment since she graduated from college, around five years ago. So many things had happened... and the big turning point had been meeting Inuyasha. She chuckled at the memory of Inuyasha’s upstairs neighbor flooding his apartment and ruining the hanyou’s, creating a need to find a place to crash for a few weeks. That had been almost two years ago.

 

She could almost see his angry face as he stomped around the living room of what was her apartment. “So the fucker goes on a vacation without making sure everything is closed, leaving the fucking bath tap water running, just a dribble, he said. But he blocked the drain before leaving, something about being afraid of spiders crawling up or whatever, so it overflowed and when I came home yesterday” more stomping “My fucking home was not safe for me to stay because his bathroom was now mixed with mine!” At this point he had stopped pacing and looked at her with eyes that showed not only anger, but fear. They were pulling at the strings of her heart and she found herself asking “why don’t you stay here while they fix your apartment?” 

His reaction had been of shock, then into full denial, saying he totally couldn’t! But his flushed, excited face was telling otherwise. And thanks again, to Miroku, she knew he only needed one push to stop pretending. “Come on! It’s only a few weeks, you won’t be spending any extra money—actually you can save it to remodel your home—and, it's not like you haven’t spend the night—and a few days—here before."

His hand went up to scratch his head and closed his eyes. Hiding her grin, she waited for him to give a court nod, and say “Ok, just for a few weeks”.  She mirrored his nod and opened her arms to him, “Come here, boy”. 

Inuyasha huffed but walked closer “I don’t need cuddling! I’m not a fucking kid!”

“I know you’re not! Believe me. But I want to cuddle, are you gonna let me?”

Without a word he had scooped her and sat on the couch with his girlfriend in his lap, taking in her calming scent, and letting her use him to cuddle.

 

Thinking back, it was either that night, or one of the two following weeks that they made their daughter. It had gotten out of hand really quickly. The awkward phase in which he paced around the house looking for a place to lay down or rest lasted him less than a day.  When she got fed up watching him pace around the living room and kitchen, she took him by the hand and sat him in one of the kitchen bar’s chairs. With her hands on his shoulders she walked close enough to  occupy the space between his legs. “You can sit wherever you want... you can walk to wherever you want, and if you don’t want to move and just want to lay down on the floor, that is good too...” she looked into his eyes “This is your home for now... you can do whatever you want.”

His ears perked at her last sentence and his dubitative smile transformed into a knowing smirk “Whatever and Wherever I want?”

If she knew back then what she knew now, maybe she would answered differently, but what she did was nod with an open smile on her lips and a chirped “yes”.  She expected some kind of question, maybe a few complaints, but she did not think his answer would be scooping her up, placing his hands on her ass, and placing her on the counter. Without losing time his lips had crashed on hers and his hands were traveling freely under her shirt...

An upset whine took her out of her sweet memories. Looking down to the girl raising her hands to her on her baby walker, she said to herself “he really took the ‘whenever, wherever’ thing to heart”

Taking the girl up, minding those super strong legs that loved to kick her anywhere they could reach, Kagome closed the door and walked the way to Inuyasha’s Tattoo parlor.

Inuyasha had just wrapped up with that day’s only costumer. It had been a difficult meeting because the man wanted his tattoo to cover the name of a ex girlfriend and that forced him to use a pallet he was not comfortable using, and because of it being a coverage, the design needed to be changed. They set another meeting in a few days so Inuyasha could work on the changes.

He was in such deep thought as he tidied up the stations, that the bell that rang with the door was almost ignored. After the second of obliviousness, he turned ready to greet the women of his life with a smile on his face. He had missed them.

The smile disappeared when the man at the door opened his arms to him “I know you are happy to see me, my friend. Come’ere!”

“Fuck you, Miroku”

“Luv’ya too”

A low growl was his answer.

“I know, I know all your mushiness is reserved for them.” Miroku admitted with his hands up in surrender.

“Sit over there and shut the fuck up” his voice low and even.

Miroku walked to the signaled chair “Doing the former, forgetting the latter”

Shaking his head Inuyasha continued what he was doing before his idiotic best friend appeared.

“So, why are they not here? Did they stand you up?”

“They did not! I just went to campus this morning, and they will come directly from home.”

Miroku frowned “But it's past noon”

Inuyasha closed the door of the last board and walked to the glass case that he used as a work station “She is sleeping more lately, and so is the baby.”

“How is she, by the way?”

Miroku wondered if Inuyasha knew how his face lit up every time he thought or talked about his family, how his ears perked up, how his shoulders straightened and the small almost permanent wrinkles around his eyes disappeared. It was a remarkable change, and he was proud to be the man responsible for that happening. Not that they had ever thanked him, but stil.

“Getting bigger and talking—or trying to at least—every moment she is awake.” The smile present in his voice, even if his brows were slowly coming together. “... and repeating everything I say.” he finished with a bitter voice.

Miroku whistled low “She must be cursing like a sailor...”

“Fuck off, Miroku.”

“Yep, just like that!” Miroku pointed at the hanyou with a sardonic smile. “A perfect imitation of your daughter imitating you”.

Inuyasha flipped him, what gained an open laugh from Miroku who answered with another obscene sign involving his fingers and his chin, Inuyasha quickly retaliated with a sign slightly more complicated.

And that is how Kagome found them, throwing inappropriate signs in turns,  when she opened the door with a drowsy baby peacefully resting on her shoulder.

“Ohh, if it isn’t the mature father of my children.”  She declared, freezing said father as he flipped off his friend with both hands with a smug expression on his face. All this before turning to her with huge wide eyes.

“Kagome...” was all he said, and all that was needed to bring their daughter back from sheep-land.

Her little black ears tickled her neck as they started to scan her surroundings. “I think she is looking for her dad.” Kagome told him without losing her mocking smile.

“Of course she is looking for me, right baby?” 

This time, the sound of her father’s voice sprang her into a sitting position and turned her little body as much as she could to zero in on her daddy with a series of “datta, datty!” squealing and  squirming to make her mother put her on the floor.

Inuyasha kneeled down and opened his arms, waiting for his daughter, who hadn’t yet gotten ahold of the process of walking, but that didn't mean she wasn't trying. The moment Kagome put her down she stomped forward a couple of times before falling on her butt and look at her father with a sad face and unshed tears on her chocolate eyes. And a very canine whine came out of her little body.

Inuyasha had learned the art of baby distraction soon after becoming a parent, and as he knew she was not hurt, he used it. “Come here baby! Come to daddy Izzy! Come here Izayoi!” He almost shouted with a big smile on his face and batting his arms up and down.

The baby blinked a couple of times before squealing and using her hands to stand again. With a high pitched screech Izayoi gave the last steps towards her father, crashing into his chest with a bubbling giggle.

Kagome saw them do what was customary every time they met. Inuyasha would hold her with one arm beneath her diaper, letting her nuzzle his cheek and neck as she made a soft purr in her small chest and circling his neck with an arm waiting for him to reciprocate with a nuzzle and rumble of his own to explode in a joy filled squeal.

“Hi, there Kagome!”  said Miroku with a charming smile on his face, all crude gestures gone.

“Hi! Kukku!” She answered with a smile as she walked to sit beside the man, on the chairs close to the door, leaving the father-daughter pair to bond on their own.

He laughed good heartedly “So I’m stuck with kukku now?”

Kagome nodded solemnly “Until she learns to say your name differently, yep, you are Kukku to us”

“Ok..” He shrugged, before pointing at her swollen belly. “So how have you been?”

Smiling as she rested her head on the glass behind them  and closing her eyes  as she caressed her belly tenderly “the morning sickness is gone at least.”

“And she is sleeping and eating more again” Inuyasha added as he walked closer carrying the baby that was too busy playing with the end of the silver braid.

Kagome huffed. “You say that as if it was something bad!”

“Hey! I’m not fighting you!”

“When are you not fighting someone, Inuyasha?” Miroku asked with a smirk.

Izayoi stopped chewing on Inuyasha’s hair and yelped “duck up, kukku!” 

Kagome smiled “she has been saying that every time Inuyasha says your name...  still dunno what she means by that.”

Miroku stretched his arms to her and Izayoi instantly jumped to him with a squeal “Kukku!”

“What you want, Izzy?” he asked with the baby jumping on his lap.

Inuyasha came to sit beside Kagome and circled her shoulders with his arm. With a soft smile  she rested her head on his shoulder as he pressed a kiss on her temple.

“And I really wasn't fighting you, just saying you aren’t repelled by food and you don’t wake up every twenty minutes anymore” He whispered into her ear before burying his nose in her hair.

 

Suddenly their first kiss flashed in his head, it had been during what they now agreed was their second or third date, around a month after meeting each other. They had a --failed-- meeting to decide the design of her tattoo, and they had spent around three hours bickering about something he didn’t like because it was either corny or tacky. When his stomach made a very loud growl and Kagome lost her fighting stance to giggle, taking in the glow on those red cheeks of his.

He nudged her with his shoulder “Hey! What’s funny about being hungry?”  He asked with his head turned to the other side trying to hide his embarrassment. 

Kagome cleared her throat, he didn’t know then, but she was fighting with herself trying to decide if it was time to back off and go home or time for her to be bold. And using what was left of her drive before it crumbled under insecurities, she had stuttered a “sh-should we stop and grab a bite?”

He had been shocked by the suggestion, Inuyasha had been almost certain that she was not comfortable around him. She fidgeted a lot, stared at him in weird moments and always seemed unsure about what to say. He must have been staring because she blushed and turned her face away.

“Y-yeah let’s go eat something.” Was the only thing he said before grabbing his jacket and waiting for her by the door, only to remember he had to turn off every light and close properly.

Now, he couldn’t even remember in which direction they walked or where they stopped. Vaguely he recalled that it was a cafe, and that she had recommended what to order, with that ever-present blush on her face. They sat at a circular booth in the back of the place, of that he was sure. What he was also perfectly capable of remembering was the moment they had started to bicker about something stupid again. Maybe it was about how he'd asked for more beverages and she didn’t like his tone. And after they were shushed for being unpleasantly loud for the rest of the customers, they had started to argue in hard whispers and unknowingly their faces had started to inch closer with each retort.

“I don’t fucking care about it!” he had said without missing the way the small hairs on her bangs moved with his breath.

Kagome sighed without moving her chocolate eyes from his fiery ones. His breath was warm against her face,  she could see his eyes scanning her, with something behind his eyes she couldn’t dare to guess its meaning.  “But I do...” she whispered with a sound that was more air than voice.

Inuyasha was lost to everything but her from the moment she spoke those words.  Her face had lost all the animosity, and the softness that he had only seen on their first encounter had finally surfaced again. 

Until this day he didn’t know who started to move toward the other, he could only see for a moment how her lips were closer and closer until he felt their softness and warmth against his own. His heart skipped a beat when she tentatively moved her lips and tilted her head, suddenly her small hand was on the side of his face.

The next thing he knew was the waiter was repetitively, and obnoxiously tapping their table with his pen. They bolted from each other with wide eyes and even more blushed cheeks.  The waiter had asked politely-ish to leave and no more words or glances were exchanged between them as the bill was settled.

Inhaling the sweet scent that was so uniquely Kagome, he let himself smile stupidly into her hair. That girl had more balls than any other person he had ever met. Inuyasha was sure that if she hadn’t been as she was, they wouldn’t be there right now.  Because as soon as they were outside the cafe-restaurant-or-whatever he had blurted something about having to go, and without waiting for an answer he turned and started to walk away, without seeing her face. After the third step without her voice saying something to stop him, his ears drooped, disappointed and scared.

It had been the perfect first kiss, actually the perfect kiss. The spark he had felt the moment their lips touched was like nothing he could compare it to, it was just right, but at the same moment his heart swelled with the rightness of it, it has also sent a crippling panic. Back then he didn’t know what he feared, but now, he was positive it was the automatic and absolute fear of losing what he had just found. And being as stupid as he was, instead of holding on to it, he had run away. Luckily she was neither as stupid, nor as cowardly, as him.

At the same time he slowed the pace of his escape a small yet firm hand latched on his forearm, stopping him cold. Before he could work on a facade she circled him and stared at him with her brows knitted together. Fearing she would berate him for the kiss, Inuyasha was about to beat her to it and ask what she had done, when Kagome’s hands were on the forelocks that rested on his shoulders “Nobody is running away...” he heard her whisper, and then her lips were on his again.  Without wasting a minute, his hands were on her, one circling her waist pulling her close, and the other on the back of her head.

His doubts about the feelings being fabricated in his head were now completely shattered as they stared into each other’s eyes after having separated for air. “I thought you hated me” the hanyou said aloud, not realizing it until she moved her hand from his hair to his cheek and whispered “I don’t hate you...”

Inuyasha didn’t know that it was possible to blush deeper than she had already done, but he was proven wrong when her soft voice told him “I actually really like you...”.

The admission must have put a big stupid smile on his face, because Kagome slapped his chest softly and told him not to laugh at her with a pouty face. His happiness was imbedded in his voice as he inched closer to her lips again “I’m not laughing at you, I like you too.” That was one of the best nights of his life.

 

From that moment on, they became an official couple, a very serious couple.  A very serious couple that two months later were living together, and having a child around a year after meeting each other.

A high pitch squeal coming from said child, that wanted her parent’s attention, brought him out of his musings. Moving fast to catch the girl that was trying to jump from Miroku’s to her mother’s lap.

“Careful, Izzy.” he said as he took the girl and let her rest curled on his chest.

“And why are we still here and not at your place, Miroku?” Kagome asked to both of the men there.

Miroku gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head. “We are here, waiting for Sango to be ready with the food”.

They hadn’t had the time to reconnect as a group of friends for a while now, and Sango wanted to do something special for their friends. After all, they were responsible for having brought she and Miroku together. Without that overprotective girl watching over Kagome and her romantic relationships, they wouldn’t have met each other, nor fallen in love, nor anything else that came after the first time they met each other. That made Sango want to do something for the stupid couple that brought them together.

Inuyasha groaned in his seat. “You didn’t tell me we were going to eat her food! Nobody should have to eat her food!”

Kagome slapped his leg “That is very rude to say! Even if it’s true that her food isn’t exactly...” she paused as she searched for a polite word. But Inuyasha finished it for her.

“...edible?”

She rolled her eyes when a fang-showing smirk appeared on his face.

“Either way, don’t say it like that...” she turned to her best friend’s boyfriend. “What was Sango supposed to cook?” she asked a little worry showing in her face.

Miroku smiled as soon as the name was mentioned, thinking about his beautiful girlfriend. “My dear Sango told me she wanted to cook Okonomiyaki. She’s gonna call me when everything's ready”.

Inuyasha shrugged. “It’s difficult to ruin okonomiyaki... is she gonna make ramen?”

Miroku deadpanned at his friend. “Wachu think?”

The hanyou tilted his head and his ears drooped along with his brows “That... I... should bring my own?”

“Inuyasha...” His eyes went to Kagome who was shaking her head.

“Hey if she's not gonna make some ramen, I’m gonna take my own!”

Kagome rested her head back on his shoulder “You’re an asshole...”

Inuyasha rested his chin on top of her head with his smirk in place “...and you wanted me anyway.”

“I wonder what is wrong with me everyday” She retorted sticking out her tongue out.

“If you two are finished I’d like your attention for a moment!” Miroku was standing in front of them with his hands on his pocket and looking nervous, something that was not common on this man.

“What is it Miroku?” asked Inuyasha.

“Duck up, Kukku!” A half sleep Izayoi yelled from her place on her father’s chest.

“Love you too, Izzy” Miroku shook his head, and stared at the couple. “I asked Sango to marry me...”

Kagome squealed making both Inuyasha and their daughter jump. “That is so great!!! How did you ask her? What was her face like? What did she say? What did YOU say? This is so exciting!”

“Umm... I asked her during dinner last night, she did not expect it—thank you for not telling her. She was...happy I think, and gave me a 'Yes' with conditions...” The smile on his face began to wither as he explained.

“What conditions?” It was Inuyasha who made the question.

“That if I even look at another woman with indecent eyes, she will call it off...she will dump my sorry ass... It doesn’t matter if we are signing our marriage license at the moment, or are already married.” His shoulders slumped.

Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other before saying something.

“Do you think you can do it?” Inuyasha asked with a low worried voice.

“I know I can!” Miroku answered with a voice unnecessarily loud.

Kagome stood up, a little slower than usual, and walked closer with her arms open. “Congratulations!” was all she said.

Inuyasha followed shortly after and gave him half a hug. “Just don’t ruin it, Miroku”.

The human smiled back at his friends much more relaxed, and opened his mouth to say something at the same time Sango called to tell them the food was ready.

Sango and Miroku’s house was farther than Inuyasha and Kagome’s. Instead of being four blocks away, theirs was two subway stations away.

Luckily Miroku thought ahead and brought his car. They usually used the subway, but Miroku figured they didn't want to deal with people on their way there, and he didn’t want a cranky Inuyasha tasting Sango’s food, so he decide to give them a ride to his home.

 

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading! And I hope you enjoyed it as much reading it as I did writing it.
> 
> I know this is a big change from the first two parts, after finishing part. 2, I found myself without a real inspiration to write it, a total blockage for the story. I knew what would happen, but didn’t know how to express it. I know they would have a very hectic first years of relationship, so I started there and suddenly everything fitted again. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who takes their time to read, follow, or leave kudos or a review, It is wonderful to know what the readers think and feel about the story, also to let us know how we can improve, thank you for your time.
> 
> The story is already finished, so I think that after a few editing, done by my friend Stoatsandweasels (thank you for your hard work!), in order to make this readable, and I’ll be uploading the next part in a few days.
> 
> Love,  
> Nanna


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arriving to their friends' home, Inuyasha and Kagome think of their milestones as a couple.

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

 o0o0o0o0o0o0o

  **Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Part. 4**

 Less than half an hour after getting in Miroku’s car, and after Inuyasha’s stop at a mini-market where he procured his—ten cups of—beloved ramen. They were seated at the table and ready to eat. Sango was working on a electric flat grill, starting with okonomiyaki, set on the unoccupied part of the table.  Izayoi was sleeping on the couch under her blanket and holding her dog splushy close to her chest.

 “She is so big now...” said Sango as she worked on the grill “Last time I saw you she was this big.” signaling a distance way too small to be realistic. Kagome still laughed at her friend’s antics.

 “She is growing fast! But tell me, how are you with the moving in and all that?” Kagome asked as she put both of her elbows on the table, looking at her friend blush and search for the men in the house. They were in their own little world, talking about something related to the new addition to Miroku’s sleeves.

 Relieved that she didn’t have the attention of her fiance, Sango looked at Kagome with her eyes full of happiness. “It’s been great, he is great. Just minor things, that shouldn’t make me as angry as I get sometimes...” Kagome gave her a knowing smile to her hot headed friend. “But you know how I get.”

 Kagome nodded. “I know what you mean, adapting and stuff... but you’re happy and that’s all that matters!”

 “Yes, Yes! And tell me how is the bun treating you?” Sango asked to Kagome as she set the first set of food on the grill.

 Kagome laughed at the same time she caressed her belly “It’s treating me better than Izayoi did.”  It was well known that her first pregnancy was not easy, starting for the way they discovered it.

 It was their six months anniversary, and for days she had felt rather queasy on her stomach, the day before she had thrown up twice during the day. Kagome felt really guilty about it, she knew she hadn’t felt ‘normal’ for a few weeks, but the reasons for it were always there and never went to a see a doctor. “The food from that new restaurant from last nigh.t”, “The stress from the principal’s change at school.”, “The sleep deprivation from grading her student’s work.”, “The tiredness of being mad at Inuyasha for half a day because he was a dick.” The last one was her favorite.

 But now, that she had emptied her already empty stomach for the third time that morning—afternoon now, Kagome was fairly sure something was wrong with her. Inuyasha was waiting for her on the other side of the door. Something they had learned after the first time she got sick, was that Inuyasha had a reflex response to the smell of vomit—it made him sick too. And since that horrible morning months ago, they had the rule that ‘everyone throws up on their own’.

“Oi, Kagome... you alright?”  His voice came in that special mix of frustration, worry and comfort he used when something was wrong with her and he couldn’t fix it. She felt a smile creep on her face, he was always surprised when his sweet side surfaced. He could be screaming at the top of his lungs in one second, and panicky the next trying to comfort her without knowing what the problem was.

 Kagome washed her mouth for the umptenth time that day and opened the door. He was sitting on the floor, resting his back on the wall beside the door she opened, he jumped to his feet as soon as she stepped outside.

 His hands on his upper arms stroking softly, his eyes scanning her face for any sign of illness. “You alright, wench?”

 Kagome smiled and nodded slowly. “I think I’m good.”

 Golden eyes narrowed into slits “You really, really okay?” 

 “Yes..” she walked closer and let him enveloped her in a hug, and they playfully stumbled to the bed, where they unspokenly agreed to lay down for a while.

 “Whatchu think made you sick?” he asked to the head resting on his chest, that slowly rose after his words.

 With her chin resting on him, Kagome searched for his worried eyes. “I don’t know, I thought it was dinner... but that was three days ago.” She pouted.

 “It’s weird...” He muttered to himself before letting his head fall back into the pillow.

 “What’s weird?”

 Inuyasha scrunched his eyes and took another sniff of his girlfriend. Yeah it was weird. “You smell weird but it's not how you do when you're sick.”

 “And have you ever smelled someone that smells like I do?”

 Inuyasha growled low in his chest. “Doesn’t work like that... Everyone’s smell changes differently. It's not like I can tell what they have by comparing smells... I have to know the person to know what’s happening.”

 “Oh! That is interesting! But it doesn’t help much...”

 Another frustrated growl vibrated under her. They stayed in silence for a moment lost in their thoughts, slowly stroking each other’s exposed skin.

“Kagome, what if it’s that you're about to have your period?” He had his eyes still closed, but he could immediately feel the change on her body, but kept talking “You said that sometimes it did weird things to your stomach.”

 She blinked as she made the count... her period was supposed to arrive. “Ohh my...” three months ago.

 Inuyasha saw her crawl with a scared face. Thinking that maybe she was feeling bad again he followed and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to reach her arms, but before he could touch her she took a step back, away from him... “Are you feeling bad again?” his voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

 “I--I don’t know”

 He could smell the growing fear that she was radiating, even if his nose wouldn’t help him, her wide eyes getting watery and the way she was breathing with fast and shallow breaths was too fast. His arms darted to her and pulled her into his lap, stroking her back in calming circles, prompting her to place her head on his shoulder.

 “What’s wrong, Kagome…?”

 She sniffled into his neck “I-I” She tried to gather the courage to voice her concerns. The fear of saying it and making it more real was keeping her from speaking. Her voice gone as she stared at Inuyasha with unshed tears. She could feel how the veil concealing the volatile mix of his emotion was starting to give in. Kagome took a deep breath.

 “I-IthinkI’mpregnant...” She blabbered out and hid her head on the crook of his neck, too scared to wait for his reaction. 

 His arms pulled her into his chest with a tender yet firm strength until she was hugging him back. His body had lost all the softness he had shown moments before, to be replaced with iron-ish hardness.

 “I’m so fucking stupid. This is so wrong...just wrong” he muttered against her hair.

 The angry way he said the words caused her to straighten her back and retreat from his lap. Of all the things he could have said, that didn’t fit into what she was guessing his reaction could be. Her own fears were set aside as a new anger invaded her, the need to get away from him and to do something was far too great to be ignored.

 Kagome took a step back, Inuyasha’s hands raised to bring her back closer again, she slapped his hands away with an angry swap. Her eyes flashing with both anger and hurt as she move away from his reach.

 Inuyasha’s ears drooped as he saw her face.

 “Out.” she told him, looking straight into his eyes, her voice sounding hollow.

 “Ka-kagome...”

 “Out! I don’t want to see you right now!”

 They had fought since the first time they laid eyes on each other, but this was different, this time both of them were missing the glint of mischief or joy behind the anger as they spoke. This time her voice didn’t get louder, this time she didn’t elaborate on her point. Kagome only repeated the order.

 “But, Kagome...” Inuyasha tried again.

 “Out, now!” She repeated it for a third time pointing at the door.

 Some time later Inuyasha told her that he wanted to stay, but the wall between them was too thick for him to try, so he used his speed to walk out of the apartment before she could see what he was actually feeling.

 As soon as Inuyasha slammed the door closed, Kagome threw herself on the bed and let the tears and sobs out. She never thought of him as someone who could go away as fast as that.

 She thought better of him, she expected more of him. Curled in the bed that they had been sharing for months, Kagome let the pain consume her.

 During the first five minutes, she hoped for him to come back, to yell at her for throwing him out, asking her to give him a chance to explain herself.

 At the end of the first hour she was hoping he would come back angry with her and say whatever he wanted to say as an explanation.

 When the second hour went by, she started to doubt if he would come back, but still hoped he would come back.

 After those two hours, she didn’t dare to look at the clock, feeling how with each passing minute the place in her chest that started to crumble as he walked away from her became bigger and  colder.

 The hopes and dreams she let herself believe in were shattered at her feet as she drifted into a calmer, quiet and blank sleep.

 A knock rose her from slumber, Kagome walked slowly from her bedroom, dragging her feet on the floor as she reached the door. She was certain it was not Inuyasha, he had his own keys and he was not patient enough to wait for her to reach the threshold without telling her to speed things up.

 Her hands tried to erase the black lines that ran from her eyes to her chin, there was nothing she could do about the puffiness of her eyes or the rawness of her voice. Taking a deep breath as she reached for the knob she opened the door.

 On the other side of the door was an increasingly scared hanyou. Months later, Inuyasha had told her the reasons it had taken him that long to come back. It had involved his endless stupidity, his confusion about what had happened, a call from Miroku, who convinced him that Kagome did not want to get rid of him, and a few errands.

When she opened the door he had his brows knitted, his lip retreated and was ready to bolt inside. But his determination faltered when his golden eyes found her. Her small frame looked tinier than she normally did, her shoulders low, her eyes barely opened and he could see her wobble in her place.

“Inuyasha...” She called with a breathy voice.

The sound seemed to bring him into action, and he immediately stomped inside with the grocery bags he had in his hands, careful not to push Kagome as he made his way into the living room. After placing the bags on the couch he turned to her, seeing how she hadn’t closed the door, he walked back and closed it.

Kagome’s eyes were following him without saying a word and she could see him becoming more and more upset as the time passed, passing from one end of the living room to the other. And she didn’t dare to say something to break the moment, as long as it stayed like that, not saying anything, not taking action, everything was full of possibilities, of decisions still not made, changes that had not happened yet.

Kagome could see the exact moment he was ready to take action, his form appeared stronger, harder. Even if she was positive he could never physically harm her, it didn’t mean he could not hurt her.  He stood in front of her with a frown and his hands fisted on his sides.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha shouted with no warning making her jump in her place, he continued without paying attention to her reaction “I don’t care about what you said! I’m not going to go away! Not even if you throw me away!” 

He stopped a moment and looked at her face, searching for some kind of signal, and finding nothing. She was staring at him with her eyes wide, and breathing fast. Inuyasha later told her that it had sent him into panic mode.

And his reaction was to go back to pacing back and forth from the other side of the living room and back to her.

“I am not going anywhere! You hear me? This is my home now! You told me all this was just as as much mine as it is yours! And I’m going to take advantage of that!” He raised a clawed hand and pointed at her “There's nothing you can do about it!! Ya hear me?! NOTHING”

She noticed how his attitude shifted in the silence that followed, he looked more insecure, his shoulders slumped, his cheeks blushed and his eyes started to avoid her face.

“I know you must be hating me right now!” He tried to stop fidgeting by putting his hands in his pant’s pockets. “And I deserve it, I was the one being a horny dog when I moved in, and the one to insist everything would be okay... so I get it.” His eyes found hers, almost glowing with determination.

“It doesn't matter if you are pregnant or not, I'm here to stay!” 

She could see his face changing from solemn to scared when she finally showed a reaction, when her vision became blurry and a sob escaped her lips, he raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

“Fuck! Don’t Cry!” His eyes became wider and he took a couple of steps closer, lowering his head to her level.

“But... you said-you said” Another sob came out, eating her words. “-wrong”.

Inuyasha looked lost for a moment “--wrong? Whachu talkin’ about?”

She tried to control her hiccups “Y-you said--it was...wrong. I thought-I thought you meant-”

“Fuck...” He said to himself, startling her. “You thought, I meant...” Inuyasha’s eyes were sad for the first time during the whole fight, his white ears drooped. “...us?” he finished with a breathy whisper.

Kagome didn’t know how to react to his sudden change. She was used to dealing with a normally gruff Inuyasha when people were around, a calm Inuyasha when they were alone at home, angry when he was uncomfortable or didn’t like something, and sometimes, when he let his guard down—which she could say happened often at home—a tender Inuyasha, but she was not used to a sad Inuyasha. Usually he kept those kinds of emotions hidden, and it took a lot of his time to show any kind of sadness, but now he was openly broadcasting them, and that broke her heart.

“I-I didn’t mean us... I would nev-Fuck that is not wha-- I meant you being pregnant OK?” Inuyasha growled low as soon as those words left his lips, and Kagome gasped again. “I-I” his hand when to his hair, brushing his bangs out of his face. “I mean we never talked about children, alright? I don’t even know if you wanted to have one or not...” His golden eyes darted to hers, with an intensity that took her breath away. “I know I want children, but-but” a long tired sigh left his lips. “But the order is wrong, I wanted to do things as they are supposed to b--umph”

Kagome’s tears were falling freely as he tried to explained himself, but at the moment he admitted he did want children, she couldn’t help the happiness that filled her nor the need to touch him. She launched herself into his chest and hugged him as hard as she could, letting her emotions run free, and scaring the already upset hanyou.

“Why are you crying again? Kagome. Kagome! Stop crying.” he tried to pull her face away from his chest to get a look at her face, but she kept shaking her head and keeping it buried in his chest. Slowly his arms circled her. “Are those good tears or do I need to apologize for something else?”  

Kagome giggled and nodded, still against his chest “Good tears... They’re good.” 

“Good” his body started to relax around her softly convulsing one. With his cheek resting on top of her head the stayed like that for some time, until she looked up, finding his golden eyes. Kagome gave him a soft quivering smile. He reacted with a soft rumble in his chest and slowly lowered his face to touch his nose with hers, and kept lowering his head nuzzling the side of her face until he reached the crook of her neck and took a deep breath in, tickling her.

She asked him what all those bags were, and he blushed deeply as he separated from her and walked to the couch, stomped his way back to her, and handed her one white bag, with his red face to the side. “I thought that it was better if we knew for sure if you are or not”.

She looked down to the bag and found at least ten different pregnancy tests. “Why so many?”

Inuyasha scratched his nose with a single claw “I didn’t know which ones were good, so I bought one of each.”

Kagome felt both touched and embarrassed.

“The lady said that it was better if you took more that one”.

Not knowing what to do, she quietly walked to the bathroom that had been occupied by her most of that day. Letting him alone. Kagome decided to take four tests, because she didn’t have enough fluids to take all of them. Five minutes later, and with the same result in each one of the test she was able to take, she walked out of the bathroom to find her fidgeting boyfriend pacing back and forth in front of the table where he had set with the contents of the rest of the bags.

“What is that?” she asked walking close to him.

“I guessed we wouldn’t go anywhere today, so I decided to bring you something from that thai place you like... umm, and... how did it go?”

A strong clap in her face brought her back from her memories, she blinked at her friend’s face. Sango was looking at her with preoccupied eyes, “Kagome, are you ok? You stopped moving for a while...”

Inuyasha, who was sitting beside her, left Miroku talking to himself as he turned his body to her, placing one hand on her shoulder and other on her belly. “Are you feeling ok, is the pup doing something to you?”

Kagome put her hand on top of his and shook her head. “I’m alright, _we_ are alright.”

Inuyasha’s head moved close to her neck and sniffed before studying her face. “You smell normal...” he said still with a frown on his handsome face.

“Because” Kagome told him, smoothing the creases between his eyebrows “I am fine, we are just fine... It’s not like I felt with Izzy, don’t worry.”

Inuyasha growled low before nodding and turning back to Miroku, but keeping one of his hands on her belly.

Inuyasha was being too paranoid, and he knew it, but it was around this same time in their last pregnancy when shit hit the fan. The complications made her stop working and stay at home. He could recall the moment he came home and she was taking an afternoon nap and he smelled blood, her blood. His heart had stopped for a moment before running to her.

They arrived at the hospital in minutes, he didn’t bothered with a car. The doctors were fast to help them and to run the tests. A few hours later and a couple a fistfuls of pulled hair the doctors told them a lot of medical babbling that he didn’t understand, and after dumbing it down to his level he understood that there was some kind of detachment of the placenta, and some other things that sounded dangerous. They put her on observation for the night, and that became one of the longest nights in his life. After they let her go the next day, she turned in her resignation from work.

Miroku handed him his beverage, waving it in front of him a couple of times until his golden eyes focused on the glass and his free hand grasped it faster than he expected.

“Woah! Careful with the paws, Inuyasha” Miroku told him as he took his hands away from  Inuyasha’s reach.

“Bite me, monk!”

Miroku laughed good heartedly “Speaking of biting, how did the in-laws take the news about the baby?”

Both Kagome and Inuyasha groaned, Inuyasha actually growled before answering with a gruff voice, “Better than the last, at least.”

“They didn’t throw holly ashes at you, this time?”

The hanyou growled again remembering how it was the first time he met Kagome’s family trying to make himself forget about the awful taste and smell of those fucking ashes. It had been a few of weeks later after they discovered Kagome was pregnant and only a week since the scare and the emergency hospital visit.

He had been really nervous as they traveled to her hometown. She had told him before that she came from a family of priests that took care of a shrine in Tokyo, and he was almost sure they weren’t going to accept a hanyou into the family easily... Much less after telling them he had knocked her up. Kagome was there to calm him and tell him it was going to be okay, even if he didn’t believe her.

And it actually started out pretty okay. After walking the million stairs to the top of the hill, and fighting with her that the way up was too much for her, he admitted it was a pretty nice view from up there, a lot of green trees and clean-ish air.

Especially the big tree that called for his attention. It was a remarkable tree. It seemed timeless yet ancient, powerful but calm. It was strong yet soft, and Inuyasha felt the need to sketch it right there, but it wasn’t the time nor the place to do so. He was still feeling alright when they rested at the top, a heavy weight set in his stomach at the same time Kagome took her hand and pulled him to the house behind the shrine.

The door came way too soon and Kagome promptly knocked on it, and a woman that resembled Kagome but in a softer way, opened the door. “Kagome! You are home early!”  the woman said before embracing her tightly, taking her from his side.

When the woman, that he guessed was kagome’s mother, finally let her go he became her focus, he felt the intensity of those chocolate eyes sizing him up. “And you brought a friend!” her eye found his ears and immediately her hands were on them. Usually he didn’t like his ears being touched, but she was doing it in a soft, tender way that, along with the need of causing a good impression on her, he couldn’t move.

“Mom! Don’t do that! He doesn’t like it!” Kagome yelped beside her and the soft massage stopped. 

“I’m sorry dear!” the woman said with a mortified expression and her hands on her face. “But they were so cute, flicking non-stop that I had to touch them, I’m sorry”.

Inuyasha found himself smiling to the woman. “It’s okay... um, I-I’m Inuyasha”

The woman smiled back in the same open and heartwarming way Kagome did. “Nice to meet you, Inuyasha. I’m Kagome’s mother.” She paused as she gave a meaningful look at the way Kagome had walked back to his side and how he naturally circled her waist without even thinking about it. “You can call me mom. But come on in! Let’s get something warm to drink while we wait for Souta and grandfather” She announced before pulling them inside, right into the kitchen.

He sat on one of the four chairs, to the left of Kagome, who was beside the window, and her mother, who was sitting directly in front of him after putting on the water to boil.

“I’m so glad we can finally meet you Inuyasha” She said again, with a smile in her face, curiously he could almost relax under the spell of that smile. “Kagome told us about you when she came here during the holidays, but she did not tell us you were so handsome!”

“Mom, stop. You’re embarrassing him” Kagome told her mother, at the same time she hooked a hand under his arm.

Her mom only reacted with a dismissing hand. “But he is! Look at those eyes, that face!” He could feel the heat reaching his cheeks “I’m glad Kagome brought you to meet us.”

The teapot whistled and the woman walked to it “Are you ok with black tea, darlings?”

“The doctor said Kagome can’t drink that, don’t you have another kind? She really likes citron tea.” Inuyasha said without realizing what he had let out.

He felt Kagome tense up, but his focus was on the woman that had her back to them. “Of course I have citron tea.” she turned with a soft smile on her face “You like citron too, Inuyasha?”

He nodded “Yes, ma’am”. 

“Mom.” The woman indicated and stared at him until he gruffly said “...mom.” 

“Very good darling.”

She came back to the table with the three cups of tea, two of them were citron and one black.  “Kagome told us a friend of hers, that was a tattoo artist, was going to move in with her because something happened with his apartment. I didn’t know you two were so... close” she took a long sip of her tea, watching the two of them squirm.

Before Kagome was able to say anything, Inuyasha couldn’t take anymore of that soft interrogation and took a deep breath, letting it all out. “Kagome and me have been together for... um...for seven months.” Fearing she might be against them, his voice became lower and his stance protective, pulling Kagome closer to him, without realizing it. “We... we were already together when I started to live with her, and now we wanted to tell you that we are--” A convulsive coughing cut him off.

At the same time a man’s voice started to yell. “Disappear from this house demon! Leave this place now!” 

Inuyasha couldn’t see the man speaking but Kagome’s mother was trying to stop him from throwing more of the shit that was making him sick.  It was the moment when he heard Kagome coughing in the same way he was when he finally looked at the old man beside him. His mind filled with a red mist, the only thing he could think of was Kagome's safety. Still coughing he launched himself at the man, slapping the urn from his hand and pushing him to the wall with a hand on the old man’s neck.

 Later Kagome would tell him he was snarling at the man between his words. “Stay away from my mate!” 

Kagome and her mother separated them, Kagome’s mom went to take care of the old man at the same time Inuyasha tried to examine Kagome’s health. Kagome kept telling her she was alright. Growling because he could not smell her beneath all that stupid ash. “Sure you’re alright?” He nuzzled her neck, seeking reassurance his family wasn’t in danger “Are you both okay?” he whispered into her skin.

 Kagome stroke his back, feeling him relax again “We are fine... Don’t worry about us.” The rest of the occupants of the room were lost to the couple.

 The soft voice of her mom took them out of their moment “Us, darling?”

 The pit in his stomach came back, bigger than before. They turned to the elders, finding boiling rage from the man and barely contained excitement from the woman.

 Once again, it was the bravest of them both who explained it. “Um, yeah. I’m pregnant”. Kagome said with a insecure smile.

For his part, Inuyasha was trying to keep his temper in check, if the man said something mean to her, there would be problems. But it went better than expected when the man’s anger was not directed to Kagome, but to him.

 Later Kagome told him that her mom had a small conversation with the grandfather about how he was not being possessed, and how he was born like that. Which switched his focus of anger to another problem.

 After that, the man told them to sit in the couch, and lectured them about how to be responsible adults in a committed relationship. When her mother asked how far along she was, and they responded with twenty one weeks, both of the elders gasped and stared at Kagome’s fluffy sun dress again with wide eyes.

 And then the discussion moved to how they were going to make a living, because her grandfather said it was too risky for them to live only with the tattoo parlor’s unsteady income. Even more so now that, for the moment, Kagome had resigned from her job.

 “I don’t see how a flimsy job like that is going to be enough for the three of you...” Grandpa said.

 Inuyasha stared at the man pacing in front of him and Kagome, “I will provide for my family!” He said through his teeth.

 “How? How can you be sure of that?”

 “I-I will get a new job!”

 The old man scoffed. “You will? Working as what?”

 Inuyasha scratched the back of his head “I can go back to teach” The three other people in the room stared at him. But it was Kagome who asked “teach?”

 He nodded confidently. “I used to teach at the college close to our home, art related courses.”

 Kagome was eyeing him surprised. “I am educated, woman.” He said with a wicked smile “Even if I don’t look like it”.

 A plate clanked in front of him as it fell on the table. Miroku gave him a sardonic smile for jumping at the sound. “Careful with the wild plate, Inuyasha”

 “Haha!” Inuyasha said with a smile that was all fangs.

 “And how are your new students treating you?”

 “They’re good. Normal kids, there is just one punk that gets on my nerves every class.”

 Miroku laughed “Well, getting on your nerves is not exactly difficult, is it?”

 “Fuck you, Miroku.” He said with no real bite in his voice before continuing, “He is a fox youkai and knows I can hear him so he spends the class saying stupid things. Like ‘I don’t care if a tomato is a fruit, for me it will always be a vegetable’, or asks questions like ‘Can you eat chocolate? Do you see in black and white? Do you have a tail hidden in your pants? Is it why you are so cranky all the time?” Inuyasha gave a long groan. “Every single class...”.

 His friends laughed at his dismay, Miroku looked like he was really enjoying the story. “And, what do you do when the kid does that?” he asked with a smile still pulling the sides of his lips.

 “What the fuck can I do? I just keep going with the lecture. Because he is not being rude or even disrespectful, just making conversation... And he knows it because that stupid little runt has the stupidest smile everytime he walks out of class.”

 “And why don’t you answer his dumb questions?” Sango’s voice sounded slightly disinterested as she checked on the food.

 “Because his questions are stupid?” Inuyasha answered with a well implied ‘Duh’ in his tone.

 “That’s why you should answer him directly. Wait for a not-just-stupid-but-really-stupid question, and then stop the class to answer his doubt, explaining he really wants to know.”

 Kagome looked at Inuyasha’s face when he didn’t answer to Sango’s suggestion, and found him with a seriously wicked smile in his face. “Oh, No.” She whispered and his eyes darted to her face. “Don’t torture him too much, he’s just a kid”.

 The hanyou laughed evilly “Kid or not, I’m gonna teach him a lesson.”

 Sango yelped from the grill “They're done!”  Kagome and Miroku made and excitement noise that didn’t quite cover Inuyasha’s groan.

 “Kagome, this one is for you. It’s the prettiest one”  Sango reached to her plate to place the okonomiyaki.

 Without asking for permission Inuyasha grabbed his chopsticks and took a big piece of her food. Sango shouted from her place, at the same time Miroku said something along the lines of “Behave, man”.

 “Hey! I have to be sure there is nothing wrong with it! Can’t give bad food to my mate!” Inuyasha defend himself as he put the food in his mouth. “Hey! It's not that bad! It is edible.” He finished trying to make a compliment, but instantly knew it didn’t sound like that for the frowning faces around him.

 Sango practically throw his foot to his plate “Here. Eat it.”

 Ignoring the humans around him he started to dig in his food.

 

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter, there is only one more and a mini epilogue before it’s completely done.
> 
> To the ones leaving kudos, follow or review, thank you for taking the time to let me know what do you think about this little story of mine.
> 
> I was planning to wait a little more before updating the story but it is the birthday of a dear friend and wanted to give her this as a part of her present. Happy birthday Robin!!!!
> 
> Love,   
> Nanna


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter. Inuyasha and Kagome think about their relationship's milestones, like Inuyasha cooking for her for the first time, telling their family about their second pregnancy and the delivery.

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

**Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Part. 5**  

Inuyasha had already eaten and approved of Sango’s okonomiyaki. He had also prepared a couple of ramen cups, and was feeling pretty good with himself so that the real meaning of his friend’s comment was almost lost to him.

“But it's much better than the first thing you cooked for Kagome isn’t, my friend?” Miroku asked him with a face far too innocent to be real.

“It was alright...” was all he said.

“Alright? Was it alright, Kagome?”

“Hey! Let her eat!” Inuyasha interrupted before she had the time to swallow her food and say something. His face was flushed from embarrassment as he remembered that day.

It was supposed to be a surprise. A sort of gift for the woman that put up with him, because contrary to what people said, he knew he was a dick sometimes... most of the time actually.

He was grateful for her and how she had accepted him into her life. Not that it was always easy to live with her either, but he knew the one imposing was him. And to be honest, after spending those three days living with a disgusting, noisy and way too nosey Miroku, living with her, her tardiness and the presence of bobby pins all over the house was marvelous.

Inuyasha’s plan was easy. He thought about something she would like, like _tonkatsu_ , what they had eaten on their first date and knew she loved. The fact tonkatsu was practically breaded meat was a plus. He grinned as he closed the door of her— _their_ apartment and walked to the kitchen.

The internet recipe was simple, season the breadcrumbs, soften the meat, dip the steak in flour, then the beaten eggs, then the bread, and let it rest in the fridge for a while if you want it crispy and then fry it... and for the sauce, he bought it pre-made. He didn’t lie to himself thinking he was a good cook, and it was better to not get the credit for it than to ruin the food trying to make it decent enough to eat.

He had the ingredients in front of him, and the four plates and bowls the recipe said he needed.

“Alright, the first step. Soften the meat.” He looked at the raw meat and frowned, taking one steak between his fingers and wiggling it a couple of times. “It looks pretty soft to me.” he mumbled to himself, looking into the cell phone screen to see what the hell he was supposed to do. “Pound the meat softly until finding it tender... It's already tender! Next.”

After putting the flour and the bread crumbs on their plates and whisking the eggs in the bowl for a third time after he got too carried away the first two times and most of it ended up on the floor —where he place kitchen napkins on top to absorb it, because he was no sloppy dirty man—he looked at the clock and cursed knowing Kagome would be home in half an hour. He had to move faster. Inuyasha placed a decent amount of oil in the pan and turned on the stove with a high flame, knowing that freezing the steaks was out of the question now.

He pressed the meat in the flour and then he moved quickly to the egg, doing it a little too fast and splattering it around the bowl, but managing to get the whole steak covered. Then he moved to the breading, with the egg still dripping heavily and pressed it on the crumbs. Inuyasha growled low when the crumbs stuck to his fingers, and soon discovered that the more he tried to take them off the bigger was area the crumbs covered. After covering the steak completely he put it aside and started with another. Thinking that around five steaks were enough for them.

He took the next steak and pressed it on the flour again. “Fuck” he said when the flour stuck to his egg covered hands, making bigger clumps around his fingers. Cursing under his breath he leaves the meat on the egg and washes his hands. “Why doesn’t it say that the egg will make the breadcrumbs stick to your fingers. Stupid recipe people!”

With his hands still wet he took the steak from the egg and tossed it into the bread, now realizing that wet hands did the same that egg did. “Fucking shit! Stay on the fucking meat, wha-” he growled, this time escalating it into an snarl when he noticed there was no more bread on the plate, it was on his hands.

After washing his hands, again—this time drying them before going back to the work—he managed to put more breadcrumbs onto the plate. He conceded that two steaks would have to be enough, because there were no more in the package. 

Inuyasha heard the ‘clack clack’ of Kagome’s steps across the hallway. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” he said as he took both steaks into his hands. At the moment his ears twitched with the clicking sound of the key hitting the lock he remembered he had yet to set the rice cooker and heat the sauce. With a final “Fuck” under his breath, he tossed the meat into the oil. Causing two immediate reactions. One was to splatter oil around the pan from the force of the meat being flung into the overheated oil, and the other was getting part of it on his arm making him yell a strong “FUCK!" at the same time Kagome walked into the kitchen, just in time to see him fan his arm trying to make the pain go away.

“Inuyasha! Are you burnt?”  She asked with a preoccupied voice as she ran to him. Both of them oblivious to the growing smoke coming from the pan.

“Inuyasha, are you hurt?” Kagome repeated as the man turned to the fridge and started to look for something inside.

“Fuck! I’m okay, I’m okay!” He repeated pressing a damp cloth against his forearm, trying to get the oil off his skin.

“Let me see”.

“It’s okay.”

“LET ME SEE!” Kagome started to pulled his sleeve as he hunched looking for the sauce.

Inuyasha looked around the fridge swearing under his breath, distracted by the woman pulling at his sleeving and feeling incredibly stupid for hurting himself cooking... All the work he put in it ruined because the first thing she saw walking in was him being stupid in the kitchen.

He opened his mouth to tell him for the umpeenth time he was alright when an excruciating high pitched noise started to attack his ears, which automatically draped onto his scalp, but it was of little help against the hellish noise.  Inuyasha turned to her and showed her his arm where the burn was a little red spot now, Kagome’s hand went to it to caressed it, but he took her hand before it and started to look for the smoke detector.

Kagome moved from his side at the same time Inuyasha turned to find the smoke that was still coming out of the pan. He had been so distracted trying to hide both his embarrassment, and his lack of culinary experience and knowledge, that he failed to notice the smoke, which was now another thing to add to the list of today’s fails.

She was already pulling the pan off of the fire and turning off the stove by the time Inuyasha found the stupid smoke detector. He kept pushing the ‘off’ button and the thing didn’t stop the hellish sound, so after making sure Kagome wasn’t looking at him, he crushed the damn thing with his hands. Only to find her smirking at him when their eyes crossed.

“Had a little problem in the kitchen?” She asked walking over to him.

“Maybe...” he answered when Kagome took the destroyed detector from his hands.

“Maybe, just a little?” Kagome winked at him before throwing it to the garbage.

Inuyasha could feel the heat on his cheeks as he mumbled a gruff  “I fucked up...” giving her side glances as she examined the blackened pieces of meat.

“You didn’t!”  She was trying to scrape the black from the rest of the meat. With the tip of her tongue sticking out as she tried unsuccessfully to find a part that was not burnt.

“Kagome...” he tried to tell her to stop but he didn’t find the words to express how grateful yet embarrassed he was feeling.

“Look! This part is not—less black! I can eat this part!” Her voice and eyes happy as she showed him a tiny bit of meat that was dark brown.

His golden eyes followed her form as she triumphantly walked back to him showing him her discovery.

“Do you want it?” She offered the piece to him, Inuyasha made a sound that even in his ears was half way between a growl and a groan.

“No?” She smiled at him with a playful glint in her eyes. “Then I’ll eat it!” She said before popping it in her mouth, only to be intercepted by him with a quick move and throwing it to the kitchen.

“Hey!”

“Don’t eat that! You can get sick.” He explained staring at her with a frown and his cheeks still red.

“But I wanted to taste it!” Kagome pouted.

“No need to, it was bad. Period.” Inuyasha declared avoiding her eyes.

His golden eyes were focused on the now empty pan on the stove, avoiding her eyes that he just knew were full of pity.

“Were you trying to make tonkatsu?” she asked softly after looking around the kitchen.

Inuyasha gave a small agreeing grunt, keeping his eyes away from her.

He jumped slightly when her hands cradled his face and pulled him close, trying to force his eyes to meet hers. After struggling with the stubborn hanyou that became more blushed by the second. When their eyes met he realized in her eyes was no pity.

“Thank you!” She said with a smile.

“For what?” He answered with a scoff.

Inuyasha felt her hands moving to the back of his neck and pull him towards her.

“For being you...” Kagome answered a moment before their lips met in a tender kiss.

He didn’t know if that was a compliment, or an insult, or one of Kagome’s jokes with that special sense of humor of hers, but as she angled her head to make the kiss deepened he decided it was not important.

The kiss had developed into a something much more intense by the time they somehow ended up against the wall, with Kagome’s legs around his hips. Her hands, one deep in his hair just behind his ear, doing something really special there, and the other arm hooked on his lower back pulling his hips into hers. By the sweet noises she was making, he was sure where this was going.

His lips left hers and traveled down to her neck. Kagome’s quivery sigh abruptly became a giggle when the deep rumble in his chest gave way to a very loud growl coming not from his chest but from his belly.

Inuyasha gave a frustrated growl, and Kagome laughed on his shoulder.

“Kagome...” he said in a warning tone. Only to cause a bigger laugh when his words were interrupted with another involuntary growl.

“I-I’m sorry” She tried in between laughs.

He rested his head on the wall beside her head when it became clear she was not going to stop laughing for a while. Still giggling she gave him soft taps on his shoulder as she wiggled for him to lower her to the floor.

Kagome walked away trying to muffle her laugh while Inuyasha convinced himself that it was ‘Embarrass yourself’ day.

Inuyasha was deep in self-loathing mode, leaning on the wall when Kagome came back with a big smile on her face. “Ta-da!” She yelped when two cups of ramen appeared from behind her. “ _Tonkatsu_ flavored ramen!”

Inuyasha felt his lips pull upward. “I found this on your not-so-secret stash” she finished with a mischievous smile. And Inuyasha knew he was never going to let go of this girl.

“Okay! Then let’s eat so we can go back to the other thing” He murmured taking the cups and walking back to the kitchen.

“Hey! But you—well, I’ll help you too—to clean the kitchen! You have egg in the floor and is going to stink!” Kagome followed him close.

“Yeah, yeah. Food, cleaning, bedroom. Got it”. He knew her well enough to know that her beautiful face was now blushing from his unexpected words.

Miroku swung a glass of water in front of his face. “I’m getting tired of talking to myself, Inuyasha”.

“Shut up, you always talk just to hear yourself speak...”

Miroku made an exaggerated gasp. “Ohh! You were actually listening this time!”

“Fuck you, Miroku.”

From the couch behind them a very high pitched and happy “Duck up kukku!” sounded. The adults turned to the baby fast enough to see her roll out of the sofa and land on the floor with a ‘thump’ and a giggle. Before any of her parents could stand up she had darted as fast as she could stomp her way to them, only to fall on her hands.

“Come here, baby!” Called Inuyasha with an excited voice. And it was all that Izayoi needed to complete the task, crawling the rest of the way to pull at her father’s leg with one hand and raised the other while rapidly opening and closing her tiny fist, waiting for her father.

“Did you sleep well, Izzy?”  the father asked as soon as she was standing on his lap, but he was no longer important, she was busy sniffing the food. She snuggled her back to her father's chest and sat on his lap, reaching for a piece of food and rapidly putting it in her mouth.

Kagome stretched her arm and cleaned the side of Izayoi’s face—which was covered with pieces of cabbage—then moved higher to wipe the corner of Inuyasha’s mouth. “The resemblance is uncanny!” She commented with a smile.

Sango was flipping the second batch of Okonomiyaki when she pointed at Kagome with her spatula, “Never told me how your family took the news of your second bun in the oven”

Kagome made an uncommitted noise and took another bite of her food. “They took it...” she looked at Inuyasha before continuing “better?” Inuyasha made a face but nodded.

“The old man really didn’t like me at first... but he doesn’t hate me since he met Izzy.” he said as he brushed his daughter’s head.

Izayoi looked up to him with a question written on her face before raising her drool covered fist to offer him food. Inuyasha lowered his face and pretended to eat from her empty hand, making the girl explode in giggles before going back to her food after completing her task.

“Difficult to stay mad with this pretty lady around, right Izzy?” Miroku added. Izayoi also offered him food but Miroku distracted her by putting a small piece of his food on the plate that now looked to be Izayoi’s.

“How can you feel anything but happiness with a baby around?” Sango asked.

Mirou turned to his fiancé with a sly smile. “We can try and see...”

Sango opened her lips to answer when Izayoi realized she was not the center of attention and shouted “Duck up Kukku!” to the enjoyment of the adults in the room.

“Exactly Izzy!” Sango said in between giggles. Dismissing the subject the woman pressed again “And what did they do?”

An awkward laugh came from the woman. “Umm... this time we knew right away I was pregnant.” Kagome turned to Inuyasha and winked at him. “When my scent changed, he knew what it meant, so we only had to make sure. According to the doctor I was finishing my first month, but we decided not to tell anyone until the first trimester was over.” Both of her friends hummed in understanding.

“By that time my family wanted to come over to the city to visit Izzy and have a good time, so they planned to come on a friday afternoon and spend the weekend with us.”

Miroku laughed “Did they make you sleep in different beds, again?”

Kagome pursed her lips, trying to hide her smile as she looked to Inuyasha who was immediately growling. “As if I'd let them! This time they were in my home! And that only happened the first time!”

Alarmed by her father's change in demeanor, Izayoi stopped eating and stood up, crawling on his chest with a worried expression. “Datti? Taddy?” she asked a couple of times as she touched his face, smearing it with half chewed food.

Inuyasha caressed her chubby cheek with a smile as he made a soft comforting rumble in his chest before pecking her forehead. “Daddy is alright, Izzy. Don’t worry pup” 

The baby let out a giggle and turned back to her food still making happy noises from time to time.

Sango was still staring at Kagome prompting her to continue her story at the same time she picked at the okonomiyaki she made for herself.

“Ok.. they came here, and we kept struggling about how to tell them because I wasn’t showing yet. So we went to have dinner and everything was good, we got home and after a...” she glared at Inuyasha through narrowed eyes “small discussion about sleeping arrangements--”

“Hey! I was not going to let anyone take MY place in OUR bed!” Inuyasha complained trying not to growl when Izayoi’s eyes darted to his face.

“My mom wanted to sleep with me, so grandpa and Souta could take the spare room...” Kagome deadpanned

“Yeah! And make me sleep in our couch or the floor!”

“For only two nights, Inuyasha!”

“And leave you and Izzy alone, not happening” The hanyou huffed at the same time Sango and Miroku hid their smile behind their glasses. Kagome looked at him, taking in what he meant by that, but the moment was ruined when he kept talking.

“Don’t forget to tell them how everything went to shitville” Inuyasha said in a sulky way.

“You mean when mom was cooking eggs before we got up? That I would have known if she was sleeping with me? The eggs that at the smell hit me I had to run to the bathroom to throw up? And that I had to stay there until the house didn’t smell of it anymore? Or you mean when my brother came to check on me and his cologne made me barf again? That shitville?” Kagome asked with her voice way too happy and innocent.

“...yeah.” his voice was low.

“Or” She continued with her voice even more chirpy “You mean the moment you helped me to get out of the couch and they just asked ‘How far along are you this time?’ Because that could also be shitville... or maybe when my grandpa made my fifteen-year-old brother explain birth control to us?”

Miroku and Sango lost their fight against laughter, gaining glares from the other couple that made them laugh harder.

When Miroku stopped laughing, he put a hand on Inuyasha’s shoulder and turned to Sango with a solemn expression. “I knew Inuyasha was a not-very-experienced man, but ignorant enough to be lectured by a fifteen-year-old boy. That is way more than I ever dream of.”

”Fuck you, Miroku.”

“I love you too, Inuyasha.”

Sango slapped Miroku’s shoulder softly and he took the opportunity to lace his fingers with hers and kiss her hand, making her blush.

Kagome stroked Inuyasha’s side and took Izayoi and moved the now drowsy baby to her lap. “It wasn’t that we didn’t know about, as much as we...” her cheeks started to blush “didn’t do enough research on the method we were using...”

Sango tilted her head “Which was what?”

Kagome’s voice was small “Breastfeeding...”

Miroku muffled a laugh under Inuyasha’s glare, and Sango’s face screamed ‘what the hell?”

It was Inuyasha who was the one to answer in a defensive way. “It's a real method an it works!”

The other man snorted “I can see that.”

“Fuck you!” Inuyasha turned to Sango and ignored Miroku’s face “It works... as long as the time in between feedings is not more than 4 hours...”

“Oh! So when Izzy started to take more time between feedings and ate other things, not only mother’s milk, it didn’t work anymore!” Sango explained after putting the pieces together.

The couple nodded.

“That was the part we didn’t know about, and Ta-da!” Kagome pointed at both Izayoi and her belly.

Miroku laughed “So let’s recap in these two years Kagome got a giant silver puppy, a daughter and what could be another daughter or a son... but no tattoo? After meeting Inuyasha in his Tattoo studio."

“I ain’t gonna tattoo my pregnant girlfriend!”

“Admit it Inuyasha, you are afraid of tattooing her and that she won't like it!” Miroku said with a half smile in his face.

Inuyasha could feel his cheeks getting hot and started to mumble about stupid friends.

“And... after the shock and the lecture, how did the trip go?”

The question came from Miroku, with a conciliatory tone after laughing lightly.

“Uh... It was, tense. Grandpa kept glaring at Inuyasha when he wasn’t holding Izzy, and kept murmuring about how the other should not resemble him either.”

Sango huffed. “Izayoi does resemble Inuyasha... a lot!”

It was completely unknown to Inuyasha, but everyone else in the room could see how he stood straight and the permanent frown that adorned his face was gone when his daughter was mentioned.

Kagome nodded, agreeing with Sango. “I know she does, those ears, nose and lips are his”. She could see from the corner of her eyes how he stared lovingly at the sleeping baby, before stretching his arms to take her and saying something about her arms being tired.

“But she has my black hair, brown eyes and pale skin, so according to him, the only thing she has of him is her ears.” Kagome explained.

Kagome remembered the night they met their daughter. It had been a rainy day, and she had been feeling weird all day, but as the day of the delivery came closer she was feeling weird yet different everyday. They had been watching T.V. snuggling in the couch, using Inuyasha’s body and a couple of cushions for support when the first contractions hit her and all her body went tense.

When she told Inuyasha that it was happening, he just stared at her and said “Nope, not tonight.” With his dark gray eyes wide with fear. “Not tonight, wait until tomorrow!”

It took some time to convince Inuyasha to start moving, but once he sprung into movement they were on their way.

The night had been long as her body passed through the process of delivery while Inuyasha fretted beside her. He was trying to calm her and tell her everything would be alright, but when he thought Kagome couldn’t hear him Inuyasha kept repeating “Please wait ‘till morning, pup”

They already knew the baby was a girl and that she had small little doggy ears, which was both joy and dread for him. Since the moment the doctor had pointed to the ears forming on the top of the baby’s head Inuyasha felt their child lost its opportunity to be normal. Even if those ears came from him.

She tried to make conversation. “What color do you think her hair will be?”

“Black” He answered seriously.

“I want her to have it white like yours” Kagome said with a dreamy voice.

“Black is better” He repeated.

“Black is boring! Silver is pretty!”

“Black is NORMAL.”

Kagome turned to Inuyasha and pulled him closer using their joined hands.

“It doesn’t matter how she looks, she is normal. She is our baby and everyone that matters will love her, okay?”

He made an uncommitted noise but nodded.

When the contractions came too soon one after another, Kagome lost track of time, but knew the exact moment his supernatural senses came back because he took a ragged breath and growl, not the human kind of growl he had been doing until now, but one that came from his chest and went pale.

She gave him a sweaty relieved smile “Just in time!”.

Inuyasha nodded nuzzling the hand she had in his.

Later he would tell her that the smell of her blood kept him on edge as soon as his hanyou side came back, and that his instinct screamed to take her away from there, where too many unknown smell surrounded them.

Minutes before seven in the morning, when the sun finally came out after two days of rain, Izayoi was born, kicking and screaming she met the world.

The moment she heard her terrified cry Kagome relaxed, even if she knew the process wasn’t over. Inuyasha growled when the medical team didn’t give him time to look at the baby. They had taken her to be cleaned up.

A few moments later, when the delivery was officially over and the nurses were giving her the last check up, changing towels and everything that needed to be done before they could give the new family some privacy, they brought back the baby to let her feed for the first time.

They handed her the small bundle and explained how to prompt the baby to nurse from her. Kagome felt very proud of her little girl when at the second try she started to get the hang of it.

The young mother turned to look at Inuyasha with misty eyes, just to find him sitting beside the bed with a look of utter and absolute awe while tears streamed down his face.

Kagome stretched her free arm and pulled him to them. “Come here!” she whispered, not trusting her throat to make a decent noise.

Inuyasha climbed to the bed, partially spooning her, but not wanting to move her. Kagome felt him vibrate with that familiar rumble he did when he was content or trying to comfort her.

Izayoi was working on the second breast when he finally mastered the bravery to touch her head, delicately tracing her folded ear and her chubby cheek.

It was a calm moment, where the only noise was made by the baby when Inuyasha took a sharp breath. Kagome turned to him, surprised.

When their eyes met he simply said “We made a baby... we have a baby.”

As if it was the first time he realized the fact. Kagome nodded. “Yes, we have a baby”

His eyes darted to the baby girl on her chest. “Kagome, we are parents, we have a baby.”

His voice and expression was so openly innocent that she didn’t dare to say anythings else. “Yes, we do. And she is perfect.”

“She is...” he said with a breathy voice.

Looking at the man beside her with the sleeping baby resting on his chest drooling and dirtying his shirt with cabbage, she smile. Fatherhood suited him very well.

“Why is she so tired today?” Miroku asked watching the baby sleep.

Kagome groaned. “Because last night, she wanted to play the hunting game with her father and both of them stayed up until late, wrestling in the livingroom. And apparently she needs much more sleep than her father so...”

Inuyasha made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat before changing the subject. “So when is the wedding ceremony?” he asked before continuing to dig into his fourth or fifth okonomiyaki, he wasn’t counting anymore.

“I don’t know, we already submitted the marriage registration.” Sango explained.

Kagome clapped softly. “Congratulations!” Inuyasha nodded and congratulated them too.

Miroku smiled with self sufficiency “I had to do something before you, my friend. You kind of took the fast way into everything.”

Kagome and Inuyasha looked briefly at each other with a guilty expression before going back to their friends.

“NO!” Miroku started in a overdramatic way. “I was supposed to get married first, damn it!”

Sango let her fiance/husband do his histrionic play on his own. “When did you registered the marriage?”

Kagome looked sheepishly at Miroku. “Around three months before Izzy was born”

Miroku groaned. “That means that it was over a year ago! It’s not fair! I wanted to at least have that first... now... now...”.

Inuyasha growled low before scoffing, “Don’t be an asshole! You're making Sango feel bad! It ain’t like because I got married first yours is not as important.”

Miroku looked at Sango and knew Inuyasha was right. In other circumstances he would be happy to tell Inuyasha how special and important this occasion was, because his friend was almost never right, but making him feel better was not his priority right now.

“Sango...”

“Leave it, Miroku.”

Sensing the couple was about to get into a big fight—one they would later reconcile in their unique and intense style—Kagome made a sign to Inuyasha, tilting her head to the side and mouthing “home”. He nodded and stood up. The other couple were too focused on their whispered argument to notice them.

Inuyasha had already managed to strap the diaper bag on his shoulder, put the jacket on the baby, and Kagome had wrapped her in her blanket when Sango turned to them. “What the hell are you two doing?” she asked with a deep frown.

Inuyasha kept working on picking up their stuff, ignoring Sango. He didn’t like to deal with an angry Sango, and by the sound of her voice... She was really angry. Kagome gave him a little nudge and mumbled “coward” before turning to her friend.

“We thought it would be better to go now, before it gets too cold.”

“But- but we were eating!”

Inuyasha thought that it was a good moment to enter the conversation with, “Yeah, we were until the idiot started his drama...now were are going home.”

“You are not helping!” Kagome said beside him in a hushed voice.

He reached closer to her and took her backpack with an evil smile. “Ain’t trying to”.

“Don't be an ass.” Kagome tried again but he gave her a look that screamed “No can do”.

“Don’t worry, Sango. It’s not because of that, it’s getting late and truthfully I’m getting tired, and we have a couple of errands to run today...” she gave Inuyasha a side glance. “It’s not because of anything you guys did.”

Sango’s shoulders slumped, she knew what Kagome meant when she said she was tired. And also knew it was time for them to go.

“What if next week you come to our house?” Kagome suggested and Inuyasha grunted in agreement.

“Maybe Inuyasha can cook us some tonkatsu?” Sango said with a wicked smile of her own and Miroku laughed from the kitchen as he put the dirty dishes in the sink.

“Hey!” Both Inuyasha and Kagome yelped.

“He makes really good tonkatsu now!” Kagome added with a hint of outrage that made Inuyasha feel really proud of her.

“Alright! Next weekend, your place, tonkatsu it is!”

The four of them arranged the details and after refusing a ride home, the young parents were on their way.

It took them a few hours to get home. By then kagome was really tired and after giving Izayoi the last feeding before her “bye bye”, as she said before crawling to her bed, she was dragging her feet to the bathroom.

Inuyasha was busy tidying up the baby’s things when he saw her pass toward the bathroom. He wanted to join her but instead he sat down to work on the school papers he needed to grade. Maybe if he focused on it for the same time it took Kagome to get a good relaxing bath, he could go to bed around the same time she did.

Almost an hour later he was already finished with work and completely focused on one of the hundreds of sketches he had of the Goshinboku when Kagome walked back again, even slower than before.

“Was your bath good?” Inuyasha asked trying to make conversation, knowing how much Kagome loved taking long baths.

Instead of a smile or a hummed answer, he got a whimper as she turned around.

“I want a hot bath!! Not just warm!!” she stomped her foot on the ground at the same time he stood up and walked to her and hold her tenderly. Kagome’s arms circled his waist and she burrowed her face in his chest. “I want to be able to wash my huge feet and massage them! I want to do something without ending too tired from it!” She kept complaining and sniffling into his chest.

Inuyasha wanted to tell her she had every right to feel tired, that she should say so and how he could help her in everything she needed and that he had become pretty skilled with massages, but he had learnt a very important lesson during her last pregnancy: when she complained it was with the purpose of seeking comfort, not solutions, and if he was to provide an easy fix at that moment the pinned frustration would transform into anger and the direction if that new anger would be entirely to him. With that in mind, he limited his words to “”I see...” “Oh” and “I’m sorry” at the same time he tenderly stroke her back and her arms.

Inuyasha waited for her to feel better and look up to him with an apologetic smile, resting her chin on his chest, feeling his hand travel higher to cradle her face. “Better?” he asked with a soft, almost purring voice.

Kagome nodded, and waited expectantly for a kiss when his hands left her face and he reached down slowly. Only to yelp when he swept her off her feet and hold her close to his chest in a full bridal style.

“Time to go to bed then!” He announced to the giggling woman in his arms. Inuyasha walked to the bed and placed her on her side.  “You wait here and I’ll be back in a few” he said before walking to bathroom.

When he came back Kagome was resting on her side with her face to his side. Trying not to make noise and disturb her, he had already shaken the water out of his hair in the bathroom, and got into his pajamas, that only consisted in mid-thigh boxers.

He laid down beside her, scooping his head close to hers. His hand slowly reached for her face, tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes opened slowly, with the warm light he was so used to seeing, since the first time she walked into his studio, and how he reacted to her, scared the crap out of him.  “I thought you were asleep”. He whispered as he scooted even closer to her face.

“I was waiting for you...” she answered before a long yawn interrupted her.

Inuyasha smirked “You can go to sleep now, I’m here.”

“Mmhm”  Kagome turned so Inuyasha could back hug her, as usual.

Making the rumbling noise in his chest he held her close.

“We need to talk about what we are going to do for Miroku and Sango...” she patted the hand that rested on her belly, as she continued to snuggle in his embrace.

“Tomorrow...” was his grunted answer.

“Ok... just don’t forget it...” Her voice was low and sluggish.

He burrowed his nose into her head and breathed in. “I never forget stuff”.

“You did about my tattoo...”

Inuyasha grunted again. “I didn’t forget, I just haven’t gotten around to it...”

“Yeah... right. You still owe me a tattoo” she huffed, but the sound ended up as a yawn again.

“I’m trying to think of a great design...”  He wanted to tell her how he hadn’t drawn a single sketch that he thought was good enough for her, that was worthy of being on her body, that fit the light she had and the emotion the tattoo represented. But it wasn’t something that could be said, and it was definitely something he trusted his mouth to convey without saying something rude and ruin the moment. So she only had to wait and see what he would do.

 

 

**The end.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and for those that took their time leaving kudos and reviews, thank you for letting me know what you think.  
> See you in the epilogue!


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagome admires her new tattoo

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intent to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

  **Kagome’s Tattoo**

**Epilogue**

Kagome stood again in front of her bedroom mirror, looking at her back with a big smile.

“Look at it... is just beautiful!”  she said for the upteenth time that morning to the hanyou resting his back on the frame of the door, looking at her with a smirk.

“I think it's okay...”

“It is everything I wanted, it's so lovely!” she shrieked again, upsetting the baby sleeping in Inuyasha’s arms.

The baby whimpered and fidgeted on his chest. “What’s wrong, pup?” the father asked and the baby answered with another whimper while his white silver ears draped on his scalp as they always did just before crying. “I think it's time for mom’s special touch. Mom?”

Kagome turned one last time to look at her tattoo before walking to them, taking the boy in his arms, stroking his back and fluffy head a couple of times until he went back to snuggle into the crook of her neck.

And again, now with the baby in her arms, she walked back to the mirror and looked at her tattoo with a bright smile before turning to him, just fast enough to see his full tender smile before it transformed into cocky smirk.

They had struggled with the design, and finally had agreed on something after baby Yoshio was born. So by Inuyasha's request, they had waited until Yoshio was no longer breastfed to begin.  The experience had been nice, at least on her end. She had expected much more pain from it, but it became obvious he was really careful with the needle.

It also became obvious how careful and nervous he was about not distorting the design, tilting his head to one side, with his tongue out, playing with the end of his fang, before tilting it to the other side and humming before going back to work on it.

She looked at the mirror again, the healing process was mostly over and the real colors were easier to observe.

It was on the left upper back, and it occupied around a quarter of her back. It was the Goshinboku, that started on the left side with the bright green of its leaves and deep brown of its trunk. To the right side the color faded into a starry night. In the middle of the tree was the howling dog that had stole her heart from the beginning. On the side ot the tree that was green, the dog was black, and it slowly faded into a silvery white one. And on its neck, instead of a collar, he had a beaded rosary of deep purple and bone colored beads, and in the middle, attached to it, was the rosy and glowing shikon jewel.

The original design had changed when Inuyasha asked the meaning of the sacred tree and she told him about stories with her father, how it was his favorite place for surprise picnic lunch. And she asked for it to be faded into the starry night instead of the infinity symbol to represent the greatness and limitless of his love and how he still watched over her and her family. The dog having two colors representing Inuyasha and both of their children, and it was the last detail they had changed. The shikon jewel on its neck represented her heritage. She wanted a unique tattoo that would also complement his,

Kagome turned to see her baby girl sitting in the floor on her blanket, making a masterpiece with giant legos with the help of her dad. She was talking about where to put the next piece, it was a beautiful sight. With a smile still on her lips she looked down to her baby boy, who was no longer asleep but watching intently, those golden eyes that were a shade darker than his father’s seemed to look at everything with a quiet wonder, flicking his ears to catch his sister’s giggle.

“You like that sound Yoshio?” she asked before nuzzling his cheek and gaining a shriek.

Looking at her family she was once again convinced that walking into the tattoo parlor that day three years ago was not only a good idea, but one of the best decisions she ever made in her life.

 

**The real End!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone that read this fanfiction!   
> It is my first finished multi-chapter work and I’m happy to have finished before the end of the year.  
> I struggled with this mainly because after their first (and second) meeting, it was unclear what was next, I knew where things were heading but not exactly how, and when a friend suggested a timeskip my block ended. Thank you!
> 
> I love the idea of Inuyasha as a grumpy but brilliant tattoo artist that mellows around his family, but is still assholish with his friends, ejem, Miroku for example. I still have a scene with him that didn’t know how to paste here, so I think it’ll be on Nanna’s locket when I write it.
> 
> Again thank you for reading this and I really appreciate the comments and reviews. Knowing what the reader thinks and likes is always a way to become a better writer.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> After discussing a few headcanons with a friend of mine and reading an article about which tattoos were the most hated by tattoo artist, this came to me. I just picture Inuyasha having all the opinions he can about everything, and this case judging about what tattoos are good and what are not good enough for him.
> 
> Kagome will challenge his beliefs no doubt, but for now he is really opinionated about it.
> 
> Thank you for reading and reviewing, it is always a pleasure to know about what goes through the reader’s mind after this. Thank you for taking the time.
> 
> Love,  
> Nanna


End file.
